RTI Act 2005: A Harbinger of People's Right to Information

Abstract Access to information held by a public authority was not possible until 2005. The common people did not had any legal right to know about the public policies and expenditures. Officials Secret Act, 1923 acted as a relic of colonial rule covering everything in secrecy. This culture of secrecy resulted in fertile growth of corruption. In face of non-accountability of the public authorities and lack of openness in the functioning of government, abuse of power and corrupt diversion of the public money was the order of the day. It all began in 1990 when the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan took bold initiative to arouse the people to assert their right to information by asking copies of bills and vouchers. It took more than a decade for the Government with lots of efforts and hues and cries made by the general people and group agitations to frame and bring into enforcement of Right to Information Act, 2005.